A Howard man charged in a 2023 child predator sting in Centre County has pleaded guilty in federal court.
Christopher L. Crispen, 33, pleaded guilty on Thursday to one felony count of attempted enticement of a minor. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, according to a plea agreement filed earlier this month in the U.S. Middle District Court of Pennsylvania.
A sentencing date has not yet been set.
Crispen is accused of sending a series of messages to an undercover officer posing as a 15-year-old boy. According to an affidavit of probable cause, Crispen discussed engaging in sex acts and arranged to meet who he believed was a teen at a location in Patton Township and take him back to his home to have sex. When he arrived, Crispen was taken into custody and allegedly admitted that he planned to “fool around” with a 15-year-old.
He was one of four men charged in November after an investigation led by the FBI and assisted by officers from Patton Township police, the Pennsylvania State Police Computer Crimes Unit, the Lycoming County District Attorney’s Office and Williamsport police.
Gregory Wilson, 51, of Mifflin County; Robert D. Mansberger, 58, of Huntingdon County; and Walter T. Sitosky, 66, of Clearfield County, were also arrested between Nov. 8-10 in Patton Township.
Wilson also pleaded guilty in February to one count of attempted enticement of a minor and faces a minimum of 10 years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for June 11.
In each case the men communicated with an undercover law enforcement officer posing as a teenager or as someone who would arrange sex with a teen for money, according to affidavits of probable cause filed by Patton Township police.
Sitosky, Mansberger and Crispen were initially charged with felonies in Centre County, but, like Wilson, were later charged in federal court.
Mansberger and Sitosky have pleaded not guilty and their cases are still pending.
